Destiny 101
by Athletic nerd
Summary: My first fanfic, a new journey awaits now 18 year old Ash Ketchum starting after his birthday party. Old faces and later AAML Please read it, Rewiew and hopefully enjoy thanks redone made changes mostly edits all above still apply
1. A New Start

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, I'm just a nerd who fell head over heels for it when I was five (used the game to teach myself to read) p.s. I also don't own any characters that I don't claim ownership to or anything I put a (D) next to and whispers in italics... Well, "Let's go!" (Gameboy(D) color Rulez!)

Ages for Story: Ash: 18 new

Misty: 18 (2 months older than Ash)

Brock: 21

##**Chapter1: A new Start##**

"Surprise!" Ash Ketchum nearly jumped out of his shoes at the sound of his surprise party in Prof. Oak's mansion/lab where all of the friends and acquaintances he had made throughout his journeys were there including Giovanni and many former Rockets, some Jennies and Joys, all of his "Rivals", all his Pokémon, all the Gym leaders he had faced and the whole town of Pallet. After the greetings and formalities, Ash (being Ash) had eyes for only the food and present tables. After everyone sat down (outside with a separate table for Pokémon) the feast began with much talking (putting all the professors together will do that). After the food all the gifts big and small were opened (most Pokémon themed of course) and everyone began enjoying the Party, except Ash, he couldn't stop thinking of what he was about to, no, had to do by the end of the night. Ash was broken out of his thoughts by Misty who had snuck up behind him to yell at him: "Happy Birthday Ash!"

Followed by a large hug and Ash screaming "AAAHHHH someone's choking me"

Which was ignored by everyone at the party knowing "how those two are". In response to his screaming Misty hit Ash in the face with her mallet, "Is that how you treat your best friend who hasn't seen you in so long?"

"Oh, sorry Misty I should have known it was you after that vice-grip, and I wouldn't call 2 months a long time."

"Well, you would if you knew how she felt Ash."

Said Brock injecting the awkwardness only he could into the situation while being greeted by the yells and punches of his younger friends "Stop, I have to stay looking good for my date"

At these strange words both Ash and Misty froze with their mouths open "You have a DATE?" they both stammered "Yeah, her name's Charlotte (Finley) she's the one in blue over by the punch bowl, so?"

"Well, Brock you were never exactly a Casanova."

Misty replied coolly after leaving a new bump the size of a togepi egg on Ash's head for calling Charlotte an 11, "**Well** now that no one PULLS ME AWAY BY THE EAR every time I get near a girl I finally have a love life"

Brock shot at Misty with venom dripping in every word "Are you insinuating something Brock?"

Asked Misty, hand on mallet, "YES, my not being a 'Casanova' was YOUR fault and it robbed me of valuable dating experience. ...Speaking of love," Brock paused as a devilish grin spread on his face "_Misty when you gonna ask him_"

Following Brock's queue to whisper Misty hissed "_Shut up, he's right here_"

But Ash was lost in thought and had zoned out after the first use of the word Ca-sa-nova (whatever that was), after a few more minutes of ignoring his friends he looked at his watch: 6:15.38 "Oh, Crap I have to do it before the end of the party"

(Party started at 12p.m.) after fortifying himself with a deep breath Ash walked up behind the karaoke stage and got the mike from his mom after she finished her rendition of "Party in the USA" (D) she hugged him and said "there is nothing to worry about everyone will be excited not mad."

"I'm only worried about two of them; I've always had Brock and /or Misty with me when I travel"

"It'll be fine honey."

Delia reassured. Ash merely sighed and replied "Sometimes I wish you were less supportive, Mom"

She chuckled "Hurry up and get it over with stressing over it won't help."

Ash turned and climbed up on the stage and said into the mike: "Uh, I wanna thank everyone for coming, you made this a great party, umm, I would like to thank Prof. Oak for letting us use his home..."

Delia mouthed "Get it over with Ash"

"Uhh, also I would like to make an announcement; I am going to try to beat the Indigo League again, I leave the day after tomorrow"

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Well that's all for chapter one thanks for reading please be patient for future updates and review and I stink with titles so if you have a good idea please post it I might change the title. Oh, and please be honest in the reviews I crave your opinions and I will try to respond quickly Thanks again for reading this, my first fanfic, and to those that noticed yes Charlotte Finley is in reference to Burn Notice, please check out my profile p.s. constructive flames welcome DNFTT and the Nerd is out see ya


	2. Setting out

Whew, I'm finally back, sorry I took so long my computer is crap, I lost my flash drive and when I was free to write I was too busy doing nothing so please read and enjoy hopefully I'll never take longer than three weeks to update again (Lord forbid it takes even that long)

Don't own Pokémon, let's go

##**Chapter 2: Setting out (again)**##

Pikachu didn't understand why Ash seemed so very distracted as he packed his bag for his latest journey. The small electric mouse and his best friend had certainly mellowed out with age and while of course Ash was still Ash, recently he was much less likely to go into a spastic frenzy on a whim and whenever he was quiet like this he gave off an air of excitement or at the very least cheer or calm. However this time was different and Pikachu couldn't understand why his friend seemed... somber.

"Pikapi?" At the sound of his pikatalk name, Ash started out of his reverie, "Pika pi chu pika?" The question confused Ash. If Pikachu was concerned by his behavior, something was wrong, the mouse and he shared a profound bond along with the fact that they were so similar in thought and personality it was scary at times. It was an extremely rare occurrence that one didn't have any idea what the other was thinking or feeling.

Ash tried to brush off the slight perturbed feeling, "Yeah, I'm fine buddy no worries. I'm just... thinking about some stuff." It was true, for some reason Ash couldn't stop thinking about his two best human friends, Misty in particular, and he couldn't understand why it made him feel somewhat sad and a little uneasy that they weren't coming with him. He couldn't understand it, he'd left for journeys of a longer distance and duration than the one before him without anyone but his Pokémon for company, yet something felt somewhat wrong and quite simply just weird and it felt deeper whenever he thought about his friends.

Ash sighed and dropped the small pile of shirts he had been packing, he fell facedown into his bed and gave another deep sigh. He began to think over his party which had ended only a few hours ago. In retrospect he couldn't understand why he had been nervous in the first place, his announcement was met with nothing but positive feedback including but not limited to loud cheering, a swarming of well-wishers and so many good natured back pats that Ash could've sworn he had dislocated and then relocated his shoulder in twenty minutes. But the things that had stood out most was how Misty and Brock had seemed to disappear just after his crowd of well wishers had thinned.

OoOoOo Flashback Flashback Flashback Flashback OoOoOo

Just a mere moment after Ash noticed the sudden absence of his friends who had been flanking him since he stepped off of the stage he was grabbed by the upper arm and pulled around the corner of the veranda stairs outside of everyone's view. When he spun around to see who had grabbed him Ash was startled to see Gary with his arms crossed standing next to a gently smiling Giovanni. "What the hell is going on Gary? I c..." Ash's shout was cut off by a swift smack to the side of his cranium by his former rival.

"Shut up Ash, if I wanted people to know you were back here I would have broadcast it myself. Now, listen up right now isn't the time to joke around." The lack of a "y" at the end of his name and the sudden straight and unwavering set of his older friend's eyes affirmed to Ash what Gary said was indeed completely serious, and despite his sullen thought that the smack upside his head had been far too hard under the circumstances the trainer gave the youngest Oak his full attention. "Alright now, Ketchem I don't care too much about your attempts to regrasp childhood failure..."

"This is not an attem..."Ash began, interrupting Gary mid sentence before being cut off himself by the deep baritone of the older man who had been almost forgotten by Ash in his silence.

"Now is not the time to squabble or insult each other boys." Giovanni said, his deep voice conveying a sense of withheld power and very slight irritation to his companions though his small and benevolent smile never left his face. "We would not like Mr. Ketchem to miss anymore of his party than is strictly necessary now, would we Mr. Oak?" His years of peace after the dissolving of Team Rocket had certainly curbed the man's malevolence but his voice would always have the air of Sauvé sophistication and intelligence along with an occasional unspoken threat he had been know for in the underworld.

Nodding his head Gary replied, "You are absolutely right Mr. G. The point is this Ash, there's been a new dark... force arising in the criminal underworld for a while now and in the eight months since their appearance they've already gotten international recognition in law enforcement and despite the best greatest people in the world working the case little to nothing is known about them aside from VERY basic goals and viewpoints." Ash was surprised to say the very least to hear all this very official sounding talk out of practically nowhere from the Gary Oak he had known all his life.

After a short but pregnant pause Giovanni spoke up again, "why we tell you this Mr. Ketchem is because these people have proven to be very dangerous to anyone standing in their way and based on their recent movements you seem to show a great threat to their goals, namely to produce Pokémon and human super weapons and soldiers in order to take over the world."

Ash looked back and forth between the two people in front of him with curious confusion apparent on his face after a few moments he voiced his concern: "How am I in any way a threat to these people? I mean I'm still just a kid really, I mean yeah ok I'm a pretty good trainer but it's not like I'd be looking for a fight with a gigantic crime syndicate." At this Giovanni and Gary exchanged bemused looks and matching coy smiles.

"Mr. Ketchem, you not only brought down the largest crime syndicates in modern history almost singlehandedly in the past, namely mine being the biggest, but you have also met, befriended and saved from otherwise questionable fates and nefarious servitude some of the strongest Pokémon in the history of the universe on numerous occasions before you even hit puberty." Giovanni chuckled, "Your matured sense of humility is admirable but do not deceive yourself you are indeed a threat to these people. First it is likely they shall attempt to recruit you and if you even accidentally place a toe in the way of their lofty ambitions they will attempt to completely destroy you and your friends." Throughout his ominous prediction the smile slowly faded from Giovanni's features showing the signs of his age in the setting sunlight. "All we mean to say Mr. Ketch... Ash, is be careful for the sake of all the many people here as well as yourself, you aren't a child anymore you cannot afford to act as such."

When Giovanni had finished Gary sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry that we had to tell you this stuff Ash, but you needed warning, so that you can be prepared." Seemingly finished with their warnings the two men in front of Ash smiled again as Gary clapped his confused friend on the shoulder. "We'll let you know if anything happens and cross that bridge when we get there, for now, enjoy the rest of your party, Ashy"

OoOoOo Flash Forward Flash Forward Flash Forward Flash Forward OoOoOo

After he had walked away from Gary and Giovanni Ash had literally bumped into his two best friends looking just as dazed and confused as he felt. As the party went on into the late night hours Ash found that he had been able to loosen up again and enjoy himself until the party was over and all this strange somber confusion had overcome his thoughts. Ash continued to lie in his face down position as he thought about his friends and all the adventures and changes they had gone through together both physically and mentally. His thoughts drifting from wise, fraternal and kind Brock sleeping on the futon in the living room, then began focusing in on fiery, fun and amazing Misty, the first (human) companion he had ever made on his journeys, in the next-door guest room. After a little while of his slowly decaying reminiscence his thought processes ceased all together as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next day after Ash thoroughly convinced his mom that he could pack his own bags at the age of 18 he spent the first day in a few years that he could remember completely content just hanging around Pallet Town; with all of his old friends who had stayed the night after his party. As the day went on people continued to take their leave going back to their own respective towns and cities, Ash, Brock and Misty never left each other's sides remembering and telling stories of the "old days". It had truly felt like old times to the three best of friends and they all were sad to see the sun set on their amazing day trying to savor every moment until they felt sleep overtake them.

The next morning, after a quick visit to Prof. Oak for a poke tech upgrade and a farewell to all his friends, Ash set out on his journey with his pack on his back and Pikachu by his side he looked back one more time on his home town from the overlooking hills. What he did not notice was the dark figure on the edge of the forest moving from tree to tree as swift as a shadow behind him as he set off.

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Well there ya go, not worth the LONG wait I'm sure but I finally updated :-) hopefully, I never take longer than a month at very worst to update again. Hope you enjoy, Please review I've only got four and one is from me, the resulting depression from that helped in my delay haha any ways till next time, Nerd out

p.s. I'm thinking about doing a Brock oneshot based on psychology, do you think I should finish this first or would you guys like more squinty eye awesome man soon?


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